Posted 6 years ago on Oct. 16, 2011, 12:40 p.m. EST by LloydJHart
(190)
from Vineyard Haven, MA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

If OWS does not up the stakes to Non-violent Civil Disobedient Traffic Blocking every week day during the working hours the 1% will simply turn their backs and go about their business of reducing America to a zero benefit, minimum wage economy where the cost of living is kept artificially high by a completely corrupt commodities exchange on Wall St.

It can be seen that OWS has been gathering support to build the confidence to take the next step to actually challenge the system to share the nation's wealth more democratically but what will that next step be? Will it be organizing more marches that do nothing other than provide group therapy for the nation's economic victims or will it be a real challenge that the oligarch's truly have to deal with?

To date OWS has been nothing but a cheer leader but now must become a player much like the workers movements of the teens, twenties and thirties of the 20th. century that literally fought to the death to get union locals organized, to create the living wage and the middle class that a lot of the OWS activists were brought into life on.

The only thing OWS has to fear is the fear I see emanating from OWS. The only way you can actually make a difference in this country is to shut down the means of production until the bosses come to the table and engage in meaningful negotiations to restructure the economy to distribute it's profits more democratically. Barack Obama has proven this, that elections in America do nothing but maintain oligarch power. So the actual force of change must come from working people in the streets all across America.

With close 50 million living below the poverty line and close 50 million resorting to food banks, OWS should not wait to long to make this decision as OWS will be swept aside by a much larger, much angrier workers movement that will have no patience for OWS's learning curve.

All my love and support is yours.
Lloyd J Hart
508-687-9153

Guidelines For Non-violent Civil Disobedient Traffic Blocking.

Never plan where and at what time you will do an action. Create groups of ten to twenty or more activists and have each group elect a coordinator who will pick a time and location for an action and only announce the action moments before it occurs. While waiting for the coordinator to declare an action the group can choose a flash mob approach and receive a text of the time and location allowing the group to disperse locally before the action or the group can just picket on the side walk with the coordinator before the action is called. This approach prevents undercover police from knowing exactly where and when the action will take place. Once the action begins it will also take time for the police to arrive and get organized for the arrests allowing for the greatest impact on the traffic. The more time your are sitting on the pavement the more the traffic will be snarled.

Do not lock arms or go limp when the police begin the arrests. When police reach down to make the physical arrest give them your arms and let them help you up and walk with them to the paddy wagon. This approach allows less injuries to occur to the activists and the police. It is also important that the coordinator does not participate in the action so that he or she can let the police commander on the scene of the action know how the activists are physically prepared to be arrested. This will put the police at ease knowing they will not have risk injury in the arrests.

When doing an action do not step out into speeding traffic. Wait for a lull in the flow of traffic in the street and then walkout remaining in a standing position until the most immediate cars are halted by your action. Once the traffic has clearly stopped because of your blockage then and only the will the coordinator give the ok to sit down. Safety is of the utmost importance in all these type of actions.

Only activists that know and understand that they may be brought up on actual charges and may have to spend some time in jail should take part in these actions. Always give your name to the police so the legal team that will represent you can find you in the system after the arrest

When doing these actions always keep a smile on your face and good cheer in your heart so the police can see your not angry at them. Your traffic blocking is the general symbol of our collective anger but that does not have to translate to anger between you and the police.

57 Comments

Congratulations! You are successfully focusing public attention on the root cause of our political ills. Moreover, you are doing so with dignity and grace -- qualities which will not only influence more people, but make it far harder for the Establishment and their political agents to employ their normal repressive methods. You occupy the moral high ground; do not give it up no matter the provocation.

But, as surely you must know, this act is only the first in a long drama. The system you protest is robust and designed to withstand challenge. The banks and corporations from whom you wish to wrest power are well organized and have, over many long years, fully institutionalized their political and social controls. Our adversaries have waged class war for well over a century, have much invested, and everything to lose -- a long and difficult struggle lies ahead.

With this in mind, now is the time to consider and shape a second act, even as the first continues to unfold. To be successful, this act must not only engender widespread protest but also dramatically enumerate that discontent. Or else, as is happening already, your efforts will simply be dismissed as theatric, but essentially meaningless, commentary by an insignificant fringe of malcontents.

And therein lies the essential contradiction -- the only undeniable measure of and outlet for public discontent is the ballot box. Yet elite control of both political parties makes this a futile exercise. Past well-organized and powerful protest movements were defused and broken by an electoral process dominated by party candidates. Third parties have, historically, been marginalized and had little practical effect. Moreover, time is short -- the next election is barely a year away.

But what might happen if you inject some unpredictability into this well ordered system? If you explicitly reject both party's candidates? What will their media report on election night if millions of us join your protest by writing in "None of the Above" on our ballots?

What might happen is that someone far less sympathetic to our cause will be elected. I think the movement is fine as is, and is progressing in the right direction. It simply needs encouragement and the time to shape and define itself. Which it will. It already has in only one month's time grown considerably and become more focused. Keep it going!

You have no right to limit any persons ability to travel where they want when they want. Terrible idea that demonstrates the notion that you and your demands give you the right to interfere with someone else's freedom. There are better solutions then this.

Stop electing the same career politicians that continue with business as usual. We can blame ourselves for our bad decisions. If you want change you have to oust the people that continue these bad politics that have contributed to the mess we are in. You deciding to block traffic doesn't solve any problems and quite frankly make you look like a bunch of bozos.

What's next break a few windows to get the point across? If you want change then you need to stop being a victim and expect others to make changes because you rally. How about something really constructive like rallying people to stop wasting their votes on imbeciles and use their votes elect intelligent non party officials. Now that's a message to both Republicans and Democrats and we will have also elected individuals that will do more then block traffic. They will actually start to change these ridiculous policies that have caused so many of the financial meltdowns.

Does America have the right to ignore that thirty six million of it's children are going to bed hungry every night? This why blocking traffic is the best tactic to make people wake up and shake off their fear of confronting the criminal enterprise their governments and corporations have become. In fact a permanent general strike until economic justice is restored in America and the world would be a better tactic but don't worry thats coming.

A general strike is also good but only if it lasts for as long as it takes to get the oligarchs to give in or leave the country. If they are not willing to give us a living wage they should leave the country.

the 1% have helicopters and many r already relocated to the hamptons til u leave. i no a few who just fly their kids in for school. if u really want to get their attention send some people to the hamptons to occupy

WARNING all OWS supporters: OWS does not need to break the law in order to be heard. The movement is doing just fine with it's current legal and constitutionally protected actions. Please be warned. There are thousands of corporate shills out there being hired to spread unrest and dissension through OWS. There are thousands of opponents just now getting organized (Get off Wall Street and get a job) and we must ignore them. Stop responding to this post. We can silence the opposition by ignoring it and not fueling attempts to undermine OWS.

So your accusing me of being a corporate shill? Prove it. Here is some back ground on me. Do your research.

In 1987 I conducted a 60 day hunger strike to protest the resumption of uranium mining in British Columbia in which I camped on the lawn of the legislature until I was forcibly removed which caused a non-violent civil disobedient campaign to reestablish the camp. We were not able to reestablish the camp but we stopped uranium mining in BC. This is just one of many protests and labor actions I have participated and was directly related to the fact that my father was killed by exposure high levels of radiation at his work at the Atomic Energy of Canada LTD.

blocking traffic isn't the answer, and won't get our demands met any faster. the only way traffic blocking works is if there are overwhelming numbers that it just can't be stopped. if you block traffic for blocks and blocks, then good luck arresting the people in the street you can't get to. see what i'm saying?

Support for OWS is collapsing right now because OWS has worn out the tactic of marching. Every time OWS arrests occurred like the Brooklyn bridge sit down and the Liberty park shelter arrests support, donations and livestream viewers sky rocketed.

The American public is very smart and will only continue to support OWS if it is perceived to up the anti to the next natural level of confrontation of the system.

The OWS numbers in NYC this weekend were small for a movement that claims to be growing and there was no real point to going to Times square. Viewers on the livestream were also way down this weekend which means the public support is moving on to something else.

Rosa Parks broke the law and as a result the civil rights movement kept breaking the law and gained massive public support and advanced the cause much further than anyone would have ever dreamed it would.

Come OWS stop fucking around and block traffic and show the American public you really are fighting for them.

The "Viewers went into the streets" point shows that public support has stopped growing from a peak three weeks ago because the marching tactic has runs it's course. Your viewers that were supposedly marching have not returned and it is doubtful they will.

Growing a movement can only happen if you keep upping the stakes, this is the only way to keep support growing.

And if your worried about provocateurs, your already defeated.

The Rosa Parks situation was not different because it was all about being excluded from the economy just we are now. OWS is a civil rights movement and if anyone sounds like a cop you do, arguing against truly effective tactics.

You are and will be proven wrong. The Movement has, is and will continue to grow effectively. OWS is enjoying having a break while while digging in and growing exponentially behind the scenes. BUT, You already know that.

Bill get a grip of yourself. Your the one that brought up the word provocateur in a veiled accusation. You have clearly over reached because you haven't a clue who I am and that I am a long time activist who has already made the sacrifices the OWS activists have made many times over.

In 1987 I conducted a 60 day hunger strike to protest the resumption of uranium mining in British Columbia in which I camped on the lawn of the legislature until I was forcibly removed which caused a non-violent civil disobedient campaign to reestablish the camp. We were not able to reestablish the camp but we stopped uranium mining in BC. This is just one of many protests and labor actions I have participated and was directly related to the fact that my father was killed by exposure high levels of radiation at his work at the Atomic Energy of Canada LTD.

I have been unemployed for three years and am in no position to seek power and quite the contrary have fought power my whole life.

My life was shattered by my fathers death. This is what made me a life long activist seeking justice for us all, certainly not the desire for power. So if you think you can profile me, sum me up with cheap intellectualism your greatly mistaken. I have three children and three grand children. It's their lives and future that defines me, not you.

That does not give you the rights to twist once again the Provocateur
statement I made. It exposes you.

Further your prior activism has nothing to do with OWS.
Neither does your ill-fated attempt to use that activism though for a good cause to make you an expert on the importance of keeping the OWS
World Wide protests peaceful.

My activism has not been ill-fated. We stopped uranium mining in British Columbia. I put the legal strategy and legal team together that stopped the DEA from banning Hemp Food and Cosmetics in America. What have you done?